Cops Baited UWS Package Thief With Stack Of Police Magazines

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — An Upper West Side package thief is facing charges after being lured into a trap by cops from the local NYPD precinct.

Carlos Maisonet, 52, is facing four counts of burglary for allegedly breaking into the front lobby of an apartment building on West 85th Street near Columbus Avenue and lifting packages from the building's mail room, the NYPD's 20th Precinct announced on its Facebook page.

Maisonet, who has 30 previous arrests and has an active parole warrant, was caught red-handed Saturday after two police officers from the 20th precinct set up a trap to catch the thief. He is accused of breaking into the West 85th Street building four times (including during the sting) since Jan. 30, police said.

Lieutenant Tony Lavino and officer Nicholas Ramsammy reviewed security camera footage from Maisonet's break-ins and noticed that the man always visited the building during the early morning hours and wore the same outfit during all of his robberies, police said. On Saturday, the two left a bait package filled with law enforcement magazines inside the West 85th Street building's lobby and waited to spring their trap.

Sure enough, Maisonet saw the package and broke into the building, police said. The two officers stopped the accused package thief outside the building and put him in custody.

"As you can imagine, our perpetrator was not thrilled when he learned that the package he got caught committing a burglary to steal contained only policing periodicals," the NYPD's 20th precinct wrote on its Facebook page.

Maisonet is being held on $30,000 bail, police said.

Photo courtesy NYPD 20th Precinct